Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Hard work...the original performance enhancing drug

Dear Major League Baseball PED users,

We all have dreams as children of what we want to be when we
grown up. Some kids want to be firefighters and policemen while others dream of
being doctors and pilots. If you were a boy growing up in America at a time
when spankings were doled out as punishment instead of timeouts and you recited
the Pledge of Allegiance before class started every morning in elementary school
I’m betting my Powerball winnings tonight that you at one point you wanted to
be a professional baseball player. There is just something about the crack of
the bat, the smell of leather or a game of catch with your dad that’s magical.
The late 90’s and early 2000’s where considered by many at the time to be
baseball’s “power” age. Sluggers such as Barry Bonds, Jose Canseco and Mark
McGuire were treating pitchers as if it was afternoon batting practice and marveled
at homeruns that were once only possible with the ping of an aluminum bat. Fans
and owners alike didn’t blink an eye when these same players who the previous
season had physiques of a man built to swing a bat were all of a sudden now
looking like they belonged in a wrestling ring. Eventually the brain trust in
baseball along with Congress caught on and began to rid the game of the drug
addicts that were tainting it. As baseball fans we thought those days were now
behind us and we could enjoy the game again in all its purity. Recent actions
by some of MLB’s top talent including probably the most gifted player to play
the game have once again showed us that “if you’re not cheating, you’re not trying”.
Not being the most gifted talent athletically I used the gift that God gave us
all….Hard work. My Cream was endless hours of practice and my Clear was my
desire to not fail. Numerous athletes out there and most current major leaguers
share this same sentiment with me. Why
is it that so many think it’s ok to cheat at the risk of tarnishing a legacy of
a lifetime? Does that extra million mean
that much to you that you would risk having to tell your kids that daddy’s a
fraud? The words “hero” and “role model” get throwing around a lot when it
comes to athletes. I’ve always said that you can find hero’s every day whether
it is the farmer who brings food to your table or the neighbor who volunteers for
anything that is needed. Just like any profession there are people that will
fail you but like with anything the good will always rise to the top. Give me a
beer drinking, Copenhagen dipping .300 hitter that hustles to the first base on
a routine pop up and I will show you a fan with a smile on his face and willingness
to spend $10 on a beer and $20 on a hot dog. So cheers to all of you out there
in the minors or currently in big’s who are doing it the right way, keep up the
hard work and we will keep cheering….Play ball!

PS. As a now famous camel once said; “Happy Hump Day!” peep make
it a good one and remember….Bad decisions make great stories. Fact.

Life according to me:

Farming includes lots of long hours and hard work. Many hours on the tractor and in the field also gives you lots of time to figure out the world's problems at the same time you are trying to feed it, I guess multi-tasking is one of our greatest strengths. From politics to sports to music to why did insert actor or actress wear that to the Oscar's please enjoy and feedback is not only welcome it is necessary.......Thank you!